I'm not described by my blood!
by Sapphire and Emeralds
Summary: I died an early death, but it was an end that left me with no regrets. I became a 'king', changed the world, made dam sure to eliminate suffering... So how exactly did I end up as Draco Malfoy's twin sister? Well, at least I can get to become king this time...or queen? Magical Queen has a good ring to it. That, and my childhood hero has the same problem I do. She's also female. Eh.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: The Harry Potter books, world and characters belong to JKR. I take no credit for any repeated quote or event from the original source.**

* * *

 **Bad Faith**

 **Prologue**

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 _I'm an overachiever. Always have been, always will be._

 _Usually, when hearing a baby scream I'd jump up and run towards them, it's one of the many things mum taught me. Always extend a hand to those that need it, or they wont extend there's when you need them._

 _In this case, I don't think that's possible. Not because I don't won't to, but rather, I think I may have lost my body..._

 _I had finally succeeded as well._

 _I was the kid that was always timid, the one that was always left out, the one that barely had clothes that kept together._

 _Ha! Even then I still made it! As I said, I'm an overachiever, built my very own business empire before it eventually spread throughout the world. If there was a king of the world, it was me._

 _My apologies, I realise I'm coming of as a rather snobbish person. I'm not...or rather I wasn't. I made dam sure that poverty was destroyed, especially those that inherited debt. It's why I wasn't one of the richest people in the world, I gave myself the average wage, and left most of the rest for different charities, protecting our world, education, but most importantly, the children._

 _It's also why I died before I even reached my thirties, a drunk...I think it was a drunk man? Anyway, simple point? I got hit by a car crash, even got to watch my own funeral._

 _For most, it would probably be greatly disturbing, for me? While I hate making people cry, I couldn't help but fill with pride, the whole world mourned my death. I realised that I'm sounding snobbish again, but I changed millions of life's for the better, so cut me some slack. So yes, surprisingly enough I enjoyed my funeral. That, and watching some of the 'higher up's' reaction when they realised that they wouldn't keep my business. Ha! I made dam sure that no one would be able to take that from me! My business, while holding a slightly unmoral structure, is impossible to own for those that would want corruption. It will last for roughly another two century's, give or take some few year's._

 _I'm an overachiever, and I made dam sure to achieve something that no one had ever achieved before! World peace._

 _So now I find myself in complete pitch darkness wondering what exactly was going on. I mean, I'd always wondered what came after death, did you soul remain in the body? Did you 'pass on'? I admit it. I was scared of dying. It's probably why I wanted to leave my mark on the world._

 _How many people do you know that can say that? I did everything I wanted to in my life, I left my mark._

My thoughts came to a halt when I suddenly felt some tightness around my body, an incredible amount of pain, and the inability to breath. I felt pain before, and with my grand experience with pain that was a big statement.

And I woke up. My eyes, burning from the light. My skin, shivering from the air, and my lungs feeling the sharp blade of air, taking a gasp of breath as the screaming slowly stopped as I regain my conscious.

Nefeli Selene Malfoy had been born.

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 _Mum had died from exhaustion when I was sixteen trying to repay the debt her husband had left her in. I never knew how to feel about him. He was a good man, but he was also an alcoholic, which made him a terrible father. I don't think I hate him. I don't think I ever did. But that doesn't mean that I love him._

 _My bias alone probably wouldn't have caused me any problem's, I believed in second chances, so I would have let it go._

 _No, the problem was that my father was Lucius Malfoy. The murderer, who was completely fine with murdering an eleven year old to discredit an old man._

 _And wasn't that a surprise? Harry Potter was real...or I was in the Harry Potter world..._

 _Anyway, point being I was slightly thrilled with the amount of nostalgia simply by the thought. The number of times my mother would read those books to me before I fall asleep was enough to make me mentally giggle like a madman._

 _Sorry, madwomen._

 _I had just started figuring my gender identity when my mother had died, so It probably took longer than most. But I was gender fluid, so the lack of, as Shakespeare put it, my longsword wasn't a particular problem. I will admit that it was slightly strange thought. The whole situation was strange to start with after all._

 _However that brought me back to the Malfoy family. Four member's, with me being the younger twin of Draco Malfoy, was not a happy one._

 _That being said, I would proudly say that I was a mummy's boy._

 _Sorry, girl._

 _I will admit that my expectations where low for Lucius. That being said it really wasn't my fault that my father had only looked at me twice in the past week. I really couldn't bring myself to care when the only thing the man had done for me was spear me a glance._

 _Enough about my situation. Planning! Now where to go from here?_

 _I was a Harry Potter fanatic, so I knew every corner from cannon to fanfiction._

The thought alone made a smile spread on the new-borns feature's in an almost creepy-like manner.

Right now there was only one thing that she was capable of achieving...

I spent almost twenty years thinking about what magic was, meant and could be. That alongside other fans research and 'published papers' that other fans had published.

By the dictionary, Magic was the power of influence by using mysterious or supernatural forces. But here? In this world? It's so much more. Why could children use accidental magic?

It is safe to assume that magic was either part of an individual or that said individual had the ability to harness magic. However, there was Obscurials. They were defined as a young witch or wizard who developed a dark parasitical magical force. The use of the word parasitical meant that, at least to an extent, the magic came from within the human body.

Accidental magic, for example, was based from emotion, strong emotion's such as fear. One of his favourite teachers in school had told him that humans weren't programmed to be happy, they were programmed to survive. Nefeli was about to put that quote to the test.

Riddle had been able to use magic willingly before the age of eleven, so she knew it wasn't impossible. That added to the fact that the existence of Hogwarts proved that learning a spell depended on talent, magical power, magical skill and time. And she was about to she how much time it would take to learn.

 _Lumos_

 _..._

 _Nothing..._

 _Lumos_

 _..._

 _Lumos!_

 _..._

 _Lumos!_

She felt something from within her, losing conscious as her vision became dark.

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 _Lumos!_

 _..._

 _Lumos!_

 _..._

She was an overachiever, a mere month wasn't about to shake her resolve, however she was also intelligent. The fact that nothing had occurred maenad that she was either doing something wrong or she was a squib. She would ignore the later option since it was useless now, however the fact that nothing had happened meant that something she had been doing was wrong.

She momentarily closed her eyes thoughtfully, she doubted that she didn't have magical power, the fact that she lost conscious after some few times proved that magic was mobbing within her, granted maybe not enough for Hogwarts, but she was definitely magic, which left the question where was she going wrong?

Maybe she was missing something? After all, her teacher had always said that the best way to solve a problem when you where stuck was to take a step back.

…

...What was accidental magic? It was magic that was caused by an underage student through a reaction.

...

No, that wasn't completely true. Magic was the **_emotional_ **reaction that _**any** _magic human produced.

But what did that mean? How could that help her, it wasn't like she could do anything higher than Lumos, and it wasn't like Lumos worked on emotion.

So what did? The Patronum charm, possible the most iconic one too. It worked on happiness, but what did that mean...

No, Lumos didn't **_require_ **an emotional trigger.

What had lupin said about the Patronum charm? She couldn't remember it accurately, but he had commented that it was an incredibly advanced spell, one that most adults couldn't count...but what if it emotion wasn't the trigger, but the source?

Could that work, emotion as a source of magic?

She thought of any scenario that could prove her theory. Ariana Dumbledore had been emotionally traumatised, and that had lead to her having magical bursts whenever she reacted emotionally...no, but that didn't mean that emotion's triggered a spell, it simply meant that they could be part of the cause...

Merope Gaunt! She was able to use magic when her father and brother where imprisoned, but then lost it when Riddle left her!

Emotion's did work as a trigger, possible even a cause!

Nefeli started going through her memories, trying to concentrate on that same emotion as she directed it to...well, towards her magic.

 _Lumos_

 _"Honey, that's beautiful!"_

 _Lumos!_

 _"...I'll always be with you, maybe not here, but definitely in here."_

 _Lumos!_

 _A very faint, almost non existent spark came to life._

 _Lumos!_

 _"...I don't care who you are, where you come from, or who you want to be. I am your teacher, and Ill make dam sure I teach you to live."_

 _Lumos!_

 _"My happiest moment as a teacher was when you raised you hand as I wondered what the answer could be."_

 _..._

 _Lumos_

 _"I have many proud achievement's in my life. But my proudest will always be teaching you."_

 _Lumos_

A small ball, no bigger than a marble sparked to life.

It wasn't as the books described it at all, it was a golden warm glow, _kind of like a zinc flame test experiment,_ she felt safe.

The glow disappeared seconds after it was casted, but Nefeli was smiling like a madwomen. This was just the beginning.

She was an overachiever after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: The Harry Potter books, world and characters belong to JKR. I take no credit for any repeated quote or event from the original source.**

* * *

 **Bad Faith**

 **Chapter 1**

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She was very tempted to drool.

The Malfoy library was a huge, two store room with thousand's of books, adorning the bookshelf's. Granted, the library was two posh and tidy for her taste, but a book would always be something that would cheer her up, no matter the place or the content.

Thought she did wonder if the content of these books would changer her mind. Her family was dark, like incredibly evil type of dark. She'd already overheard Luscious making deals in his office. The thought that she lived under his rough made her shiver.

Ignoring that thought, she started looking through the bookshelf's, looking for one book in particular.

Oh, there where many books she whished to read, many more of darker nature than that of light simply because the darker one was unknown to me, a mystery that I very much wanted answers for.

She smiled as she found the book she was looking for. Occlumency.

 _I read many valid point's about the subject of mind magic, and the only conclusion I could make was that magical humans in general where stupid._

Even without the fact that she had prior knowledge, the advantages of mastery where listed at the front of the book. Such as eidetic memory, improved thinking, storing and problem solving speed. Not to mention improvement in overall magical skill!

Really? What could they possible lose from teaching Occlumency apart from the fact that it was time consuming, which in the grand scheme of things didn't even matter seeing how one could easily recover and gain time from overall faster reading speed.

She sighed , reminding herself that this was now her world, and such thought's could cause problems if she said them out loud...

 _Oh well. Tomayto tomahto._

Grinning to herself she continued reading, absorbing every word as she was absorbed by the book.

By the end of the day the book was on the shelf, seemingly never touched, no one knowing better with a certain young girl having finished her first practice session.

A complete fail, but that didn't matter since, after all, she had plenty of time.

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"And this is my daughter, Nefeli Selene Malfoy." Lucius said as the blacked haired man blinked in momentary surprise.

As a spy, Severus Snape was very well versed in analysing and observing people, it was part of the job. The three year old in front of him looked at him in a calculating manner that no child in his own house did.

She was nothing like her brother. Draco had barely paid attention before he run with Crabe and Goyle's brats to Merlin knows where. He had barely even noticed her when Lucius had brought him into the conversation. For most that would raise an alarm, but for him, it was a clear indication that something was amiss, and as a Slytherin, he didn't enjoy not being in the know.

"Potion master Snape" She said after some few seconds, bowing slightly before continuing to observe him with a bored like analytical look.

Severus's instinct screamed that he was in front of a coiled snake ready to jump at him at any movement.

"Ms Malfoy" He said with a bow. Unlike her brother, she had already earned it.

Severus was surprised that he actually felt uneased by her gaze, it was as if she knew knew what he was thinking, which was ludicrous in itself, while undoubtedly intelligent she was still three years of age. So why did he feel so uneasy?

"How goes you research in the improved wolfbane potion?" She asked with a faint hint of curiosly.

"Well, I found a way to substitute Valerian seeds and Dittany with crushed horned slugs which will at least half it's price value."

To his surprise, he held an actual entertaining conversation with the three year old, while no master, she showed actual understanding in the subject that surpassed even his younger students. At the mere age of three.

By the end of the ball, Severus left with thousand of question's surrounding the youngest Malfoy. He knew then and there that she would cause waves in the magical world the likes had never seen before.

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"Ms Fely dinner is ready" The house elf said happily to his five year old master.

Quite ironically, Dobby was the closest thing she had to a friend in this mansion that was also in many ways a prison. Draco was an imitation of Lucius, Lucius wasn't worth mentioning, and while she did love her mother, she was still a trophy wife that was required to spend most of her time with her husband.

Not that she was stupid. Narcissa Malfoy had been on par with Lily Evans when she had attended Hogwarts. The fact that she helped her whenever she had the time with her own studies proved that. And she was a brilliant chess master, though at this point she was sure that any Slytherin was one.

"Thank you Dobby, I'll be down in a second." She said wharmly as the house elf smiled.

"Yes Ms Fely!" He said happily before disappearing with a quit 'pop'.

 _At least he stopped calling me Great master Nefeli._ She mused to herself as she closed the book in front of her before hiding it at the back of her bedside table. 'Dark Art through time II' went into detail as to what the dark arts actually where.

She was greatly tempted to slap the idiots that said the dark arts where evil. They really weren't, at least not most. There had been some few sections that had thoroughly disgusted her, and she had only not thrown the book because having that knowledge could one day be important.

At least she wasn't lazing around like a certain male in this family. They parents usually spent week days outside, talking about politics in ways that had always bored her. But it also held it's advantages. She could learn as much as she wanted to without getting caught, since the only other person in the family was Draco, who either went to play with Crab and Goyle, or practiced quidditch by himself.

She had free rein to plan and learn for years until she was put on stage. Once she started Hogwarts, then the chessboard would have a new additional piece.

She hadn't been known as the 'Emperor of Pax' through laziness or incompetence.

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"Nefeli?" Narcissa asked curiously as her daughter looked up from her book.

"Yes mother?"

"I was wondering if there was anything you wanted for Yull?"

She had long since hidden the knowledge of the books her daughter read, or the fact that her daughter was a genius. Lucius was already planning a betrothal contract, and the fact that her daughter reminded her so much of Andi wouldn't be a good sign for Lucius. The last thing she wanted was her daughter to be stuck in the same loveless marriage she had been forced into, but the only other visible option would be the same Andi had dome. She whished that they could simply be stuck in this moment the rest of their life's.

Her first thought was to buy books for her daughter. Nefeli's room was practically a secondary library at this point, but that also meant that the was a high chance that she had already read it. She really did take after Andi. Her sister had always been deadly smart, and analytical, not to mention equally deadly as Trixie had been with her wand. She still remembered the last time she'd seen her sister. They're father had tried to force her into marriage magically… She burnt the house down with Fiendfyre, given him the middle finger, and apparated herself and her two sister's out of the burning mansion.

Somehow she wouldn't be surprise if her daughter did the same.

"Is there anything I should have?" She asked her as she tilted her head thoughtfully.

"You're brother always has a list of things he want's." Narcissa said in amusement as Nefeli snorted.

"My brother and I never have been on the same side of the coin." She pointed out before a thoughtfully look crossed her face. "What are the chances I can get a pet?" She asked curiously as Narcissa winced. They where highly unlikely.

"I can try" She said weekly as Nefeli shook her head.

"Then maybe something more practical. Something to storage my books?" She said in understanding as Narcissa nodded.

"I can arrange that." She said smiling at her daughter before looking at the book she was holding. "How far have you gotten?"

"I started spell variation." She said smiling at her mother.

"Want any help?" She asked hopefully.

"Yes please." Nefeli asked happily as a lecture on charms with Arimathy started.

It was probably because of her daughter that she still hadn't driven herself mad with the lacking marriage she had, so moment's like this with her daughter where the only thing she had that truly let her feel alive now a days.

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"How can I help you?" He said in a manner which expressed quite the opposite.

"I'd like to see the Black family account manager." She said politely as the goblin raised his eyebrow.

"He is the manager of an Ancient house, he hasn't got the time to deal with children." He stated as Nefeli smiled.

"I massively doubt that with the number of Black's left." She stated as the Goblin eyed her with combined annoyance and curiosity.

"Very well, you may pass, if only out of annoyance." He said as he whent back to the percent.

"Thank you" She stated as she walked towards the Goblins door, knocking before entering to start the first faze of her plan.

"Yes?" The Goblin said looking up from the thin envelop.

"Goblin manger of the Black account's, I am Nefeli Selene Malfoy. I wished to discuss some question's I had over the blank accounts." She said with a bow as the goblin indicated for her to take a seat.

"Talk"

"As a descendent of the house of black, I believe that I should still be entitled to a trust found correct?" She asked as the Goblin nodded.

"As is with all members of the house."

"Is it something that is checked by the head of house?" She asked the goblin, who in return, raised his eyebrow.

"You are aware that we can not give such information, aren't you?"

"Information about the head of house, I'm simply asking if a third party can observe or interfere with my holdings." She said smiling sweetly as the goblin smirked in amusement. Spending years simply counting with the rare event of something happening had left him extremely bored, so at this point he found anything amusing.

"If asked, then yes, he can." He answered as a thoughtful look graced her features.

"When was the last time this was done?" She asked curiously.

"On the seventeenth birthday of his previous heir." She smiled in satisfaction, obviously satisfied with his answer.

"Is the trust account arranged since birth?"

"That is indeed the case?"

"And how much control do I have over the account?"

"Complete control" The goblin stated as he passed her a leaflet.

She blinked in surprise. She knew the family was rich, but still... She slightly over 20000 galleons... That was more than One million pounds!

"I get, what, three hundred or so galleons a month?" She asked in surprise as the goblin smiled in amusement.

This was much more easier than compared to her last lifetime. She'd started with only 20 sterling a month, which wasn't even a galleon...

 _Eh! Not that I'm complaining, simply means I can get richer faster._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: The Harry Potter books, world and characters belong to JKR. I take no credit for any repeated quote or event from the original source.**

* * *

 **Bad Faith**

 **Chapter 2**

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Nefeli had a very amused smile as she looked trough the envelope she was holding. Granted, some would probably count it as cheating, but she saw it as simply using her cards in the best way possible.

"I will admit, when you first entered through that door I was not expecting you to make such a fortune for yourself." The Goblin said in amusement.

"What can I say? It's a talent." She said proudly as she put the enveloped on the table.

"Arrogant human." He said in fake annoyance. Nefeli knew it was the closest a human would get as a compliment from a goblin.

"Maybe a little bit, Izuct, but I've made almost a quarter of the Malfoy fortune in just over a year, I think I have safe ground to say I'm good." She said cheerfully as she looked proudly at the digits.

37,251,437 galleons was close to two billion sterling, and that was the lowest she would ever get if things went as planes, which they would.

Occlumency was such a beautiful art. She wouldn't have remembered even a tenth of the companies if it hadn't been for her now superhuman level mind. As it was, she remembered every single detail from when and where they where founded to how the business went and succeeded.

Of course, shed been incredible careful bout it, making sure that the companies actually went down the same rote, and that her investment didn't change it to greatly to the point they would fail.

"Is there any knew investment you would like to make?" Izuct asked her. She looked at him in a way that would have made most feel idiotic, raising her eyebrow as he let out an amused snort.

She took out a folder, taking out one single paper, quickly skimming through it as she showed a satisfied smile.

"You'll enjoy this one, we working in china. Ren Zhengfei is starting a company names Huawei. I want to invest in this one in particular, but..." She trailed of as she took out another six separate papers. "There's also this, and they could prove to be more time consuming that our previous projects."

That was what the goblin liked about the girl. 'Our' not 'my'. The number of client's they nation had almost always went from them either thinking they where superior, or to leaving everything to them. Nefeli was a genius when it came to money, but she took his opinion into account, and they could easily spend hours arguing and debating the best whey to work in an investment as equals. That was something that really happened between a human and a goblin.

Thought what had one his respect was the fact that the investment's had eventually not been Nefeli's, but a joint between Nefeli and Gringotts. There was a reason that she was the first 'goblin friend' in centuries.

"I could bring some few different goblin's that have recently graduated. They eager to prove themselves, and working with the 'Aurum Empress' is something that every goblin knows is an advantage." The goblin commented as Nefeli's lip twitched in amusement. He would never compliment, nor would any goblin, however calling a human an advantage was an equivalent, especially as she had gained the nickname of 'Aurum Empress' meaning Gold. The fact that the goblins loved gold said everything by itself.

"How many are we talking about?" She asked thoughtfully as the goblin scratched his chin.

"I would say somewhere between three to five, there are more, but to many would make it ineffective." He finally stated as Nefeli nodded.

"Let's start with three, until I finish my first year we won't start any major projects. Well work with them for some few month's, if things still don't work will work up that number."

"Very well, I'll send in a request to the head goblin. Now as for the investments..." Izuct said as they spent the next few hours discussing the start of a economical empire.

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Nefeli was very close to hexing someone. She liked to think of herself as a patient and kind person that wasn't scared of putting a knife on the table to protect those that needed protecting. But right now? She was really, really close to losing it.

And it was her seventh birthday!

Unfortunately, that meant she had to start socialising. That alone wasn't to big of a problem, no, the problem was that every single person that had greeted her had looked at her in a way that clearly screamed 'how much money will you cost?'. Pigs! The lot of them! She almost passed the braking point when she spotted a certain someone in the shadow's, her lip twitching in amusement as she discreetly moved from the spot of attention, allowing the 'heir' of prats take it. As she joined him.

"Potion master Snape, I'm relieved that at least someone of intelligence managed to join this 'marvellous' celebration." She said with a slight bow.

"I found myself in need of a decent conversation, Ms Malfoy." He said with amusement of her opinion. She hid it well, but the fact that she had hated every second of her birthday was still visible.

"I will gladly offer one if I can escape this nightmare." She commented as they walked into the edge of the unnecessarily huge garden.

To his great amusement, Nefeli took a much less graceful standing, leaning on one of her legs as she stretched in a very un-lady like manner. He was slightly proud that she trusted him enough to not care about etiquette. He knew that Narcissa was aware of her daughter's personality, but Lucius and his son where still none the wiser, which served to his great amusement.

"Dobby" Nefeli called as a soft pop resounded in the garden.

"How can Dobby help Ms Fely?" The house elf said in a much more cheerful way that Severus ever saw with Lucius.

"Bring the book under my bed and something to eat and drink, the usual please." She said kindly as the house elf repapered with said snacks before disappearing with a bow.

Another mystery of the girl in front of him. This where muggle drinks and food.

"How may I help you Ms...Fely?" He said the last part in amusement as the girl's lip twitched. She opened the book at a certain page and sowed it to him.

"I was wondering if you could explain to me how silent casting differs from verbal casting." She explained to him. He wasn't even surprised that she had started a sixth year book as he thought on his answer.

"I would have thought that you would have figured It out on yourself." He stated as she nodded.

"I think it's a catalyst of shorts. The fact that silent casting works proves it. I suppose I'm asking if silent casting requires more magic to make it work." She explained as he nodded slowly.

"It does, take the unforgivable for example. The Dark Lord himself couldn't cast them silently, but he very really pronounced any other spell. Of course, just like every spell, the more used a spell is, the more proficient we become with it." He explained as Nefeli nodded thoughtfully.

Ironically, he ended up lecturing her until the end of her birthday. Perhaps that's why he took a liking to her. Because her mind was that much more ahead of her time, much like a friend he had once had.

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Nefeli was lost in her mind remembering the family tree Iruk had showed her but an hour ago.

Arcturus Black was the current Lord of the house of Black, and his only descendent was Sirius Black, that was currently in prison.

That would mean that Lordship would go to one of his siblings, however none of them, or they descendants, where alive, which meant that it would go to one of the side branches, almost all of which where dead. Apart from Cygnus's Black three children. Bellatrix was in prison, Andromeda was disinherited, and Narcissa was married, which meant that it went to one of their two children. _And Draco was the Malfoy heir, which meant that by default, I was the only candidate for the house of Black Lordship._

Now, usually there would be plans between manipulation and bribes for the two families, however Arcturus quite literally didn't care. _I guess that's somewhat understandable, since his family used to be the highest power in Brittan, and he was now the only Black left. Honestly? I felt a little sorry for him, and if he had actually been a descent person I would have tried helping him. As things where, he allowed his daughter to destroy his family as they where either kicked out or murdered in the blood war following Tom._

That being said I was currently being forced to suffer in ways that I simply could not comprehend. Make up.

Never let it be said that a mummy's girl is an easy job, it really isn't.

The now ten year old was sitting down as her mother pretty much made her a doll with thousand of strange products of which she had no interest in. As someone that had more or less finished all of the seven year course books, and had even started unofficially studying different mastery's, she was at least intelligent. But she could not comprehend how this was fun! How? Yes, looking pretty was something she could understand, she would even encore it on a small scale. But a whole room for this was something she would never allow in her own life. _**Never**_.

"We done, dear." Narcissa said proudly as she stood in front of a full length mirror.

Okay she would admit that Narcissa was amazing with all those spells and products. Her Dark Blue eyes where matched with her eyeshadow, her doll like features gave her an cute and pretty like appearance. That was all enforced by her white-blue hair, giving her an aristocratic appearance. She wasn't sure how to feel about that. Shed been pretty plane in her past life and she had prided herself that looks didn't mean everything in ones life, but it was also slightly enjoyable...huh.

"Do you like it?" Narcissa asked as she nodded, still trying to grasp the reality of that she was now some underage model. "So are you going to tell me what you where thinking about?" She asked Nefeli as she raised a now delicate eyebrow.

"How secure is this place?" Nefeli finally asked as her mother gave her an amused smile.

"Why do you think I asked Lucius for a room filled with only make up." She said in amusement as Nefeli blinked in surprise. _Clever_.

"If I figured out a way to say, get us out of this family, would you be interested in taking it?" She asked not so rhetorically as her mother eyes widen in surprise and a very obvious hint of hope.

"Explain." Her mother asked as she nodded.

"Which is the only way that you can get a divorce?"

"Lord Black would have to do it?" She finally answered as she tried figuring out where the conversation was going to. Her eyes widened as she realised what her daughter was insinuating.

"And you know the requirements to inheriting a Lordship are, don't you mum?" I asked her in amusement.

Seconds later I was engulfed into a hug by my now crazy like giggling mother. She quite obviously had really wanted an out from the Malfoy family. _Maybe even more than I did._ Nefeli thought as she return her mother's embrace.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: The Harry Potter books, world and characters belong to JKR. I take no credit for any repeated quote or event from the original source.**

* * *

 **Bad Faith**

 **Chapter 3**

* * *

It's actually depressing what Draco's grown to be. Before it had a slight sense of adorable lingering on how insufferable it was watching him act like Lucius. He was quite literally a broken cassette, saying the same words from the same man without actually thinking about what those words meant. The sad part was that I hadn't exchanged a single word with him for the past two months until today, and even then it was a bare minimum.

In a twisted way, mum and I where lucky that Lucius didn't care about us, since this wouldn't have been possible if he had actually not be so sure about his own 'secure' power. Which brought us to Gringotts while Lucius was somewhere with Draco, most likely a much more illegal side of town for they Hogwarts shopping.

"How may we help you Aurum Empress?" The goblin asked politely. Nefeli's lip twitched when she saw her mother eye's widen in surprise. Getting any reaction from her mother in public was an achievement she could be proud of.

"I would like to see Lord Iruk, I already arranged for this meeting to occur." She explained with a slight bow.

"That he did. I believe you know the way?" He asked as she nodded in confirmation, walking towards the office which had pretty much made her a billionaire.

"How may I help our least hated client?" Iruk said as Nefeli's mother closed the door.

"Just needed the papers I left, the latest one's please." Nefeli said in amusement as they both sat down.

"I hired the other two as we agreed." He commented as he went through the shelfs containing the many folder's the two had made over the years. _At this point I'm his main client._

"Good, have they been fitting in?" She asked curiously as he pulled out a folder.

"They have, by the end of the year they will be at the same level of the other three." He commented as he took out the few papers in the folder.

Narcissa let out the strangest of sounds when she read through them as Iruk's lip twitched in amusement. _At this point I had reached the conclusion that Goblins only worked in a bank to satisfy they amusement in humans._ To both of their surprise, Narcissa started laughing hysterically as she finished reading the paper.

"You richer then Lucius is. Oh Morgana, that's beautiful!" She finally said between quick breaths as she kept giggling.

"Roughly 3.5 times richer, actually." Nefeli said proudly as the goblin snorted.

"The sad part is that this were only, what did you call them? Ah yes, minor test runs that you could afford to lose." Iruk said in amusement as she flashed him a smile.

"Of course they where, since I'm about to become heir Black we can now start investing actual values." Nefeli explained as Iruk snorted, long since having realised that he had made the most successful deal any goblin had made in history, with a child.

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A happy mother and daughter left the building some twenty minutes later. Nefeli was now, technically speaking heir to the house of Black. While it was a lot more complicated then what they had done today, it served it's purpose well enough that the detail's didn't actually make an important difference.

"Mrs Malfoy." Malkin greeted as her mother nodded in acknowledgement.

Only now did Nefeli realise that while using the excuse of clothe shopping had been an effective strategy to get rid of the two males, it presented the slight problem that her mother used it as an excuse to go 'all out' and pretty much buy anything that looked good on her. She may have miscalculated...

As she mentally chastised herself for such an obvious miscalculation a small girl walked in, eight or possible nine years old. She had jet black coloured long hair, her fringe covering most of her eyes. However they still shined through clearly, a beautiful coloured emerald green scanning the room looking around the shop nervously.

"Hogwarts, dear?" Malkins asked the girl as she was directed at the fitting stations towards Nefeli's left.

She had a fairly solid idea of who the girl was. She hadn't been sure as to how she would influence this world, or if she should do so any time soon, but the girl seemed completely terrified of everything, and well, children always had been my weakness.

"Good morning." Nefeli said cheerfully making the girl jump.

 _Now, in my previous life I may not having abused myself, but I had led a seven year long complain against it which had lead me to many first hand experiences with abuse. She was raising many alarms of in my head as she momentarily looked at my eyes before looking back down._

"I'm Nefeli, are you starting Hogwarts this year as well?" She asked kindly as the girl nodded weekly. _This was really starting to worry me now._

"Did you come here with someone?" I asked worryingly as she looked at the door before realising that someone was there and waving shingly.

Hagrid was standing next to the door, grinning at her showing her two large ice creams to show why he couldn't enter the shop.

"Oh, you came here with Hagrid then?" Nefeli asked now knowing for sure who she was talking to. "I'm surprised it wasn't Professor McGonagall." Nefeli said thoughtfully as the girl looked at her with a very faint amount of curiosity. _This was going to be a complete one sided conversation, wasn't it?_

"She's out Transfiguration teacher, she has other jobs, and one of them is she introduces first years into the magical world. Not that Hagrid was a bad choice mind you, he's the gatekeeper at Hogwarts. I heard that he usually cheers people up whenever they come to visit him." I explained as the girl nodded with a very small smile.

"We've finished dear, you mother is already waiting for you outside." Malkin's assistant said as she took the robes with pins of Nefeli.

"I guess I'll see you in Hogwarts then." She said flashing her a smile before jumping down the stall.

"Iris" She heard the girl say behind her as she turned around and looked at Iris.

It was quite, and very week, but it greatly reminded Nefeli of a musical sound.

"That's a pretty name." She said showing her another smile. "Then I'll see you at Hogwarts, Iris" Nefeli said as she opened the shops door, leaving a blushing Iris inside.

As she walked with her mother, a much more pensive look replaced her features. She vaguely remembered J.K. Rowling stating that she had downplayed the abuse that had occurred at the Dursleys, but if that where true then the few things she had seen in the book's had been very minor compared to what Iris had experienced. She didn't care how, but Nefeli made a silent promise that she would get Iris out of that family, through any means if necessary.

"Nefeli, do you still want a pet?" Her mother asked curiously as her daughter blinked in surprise.

"I don't think that..."

"But do you?" She repeated as her daughter nodded slowly.

"Follow me" She said as they walked into a tiny shop at the very end of Diagon Ally, it was behind a large store, which was the reason she had never seen the shop in her previous visits. "Andi used to take us here when we where children." Her mother explained.

There where thousands of cages with different animals in them, the majority of which she recognised as magical. Her mother smiled in amusement at her reaction.

"The Hogwarts list may say which animals to bring, but it isn't an actual rule."

"How Slytherin." Nefeli commented with a smile as her mother winked at her.

A meow caught her attention as she turned around at a certain cage.

A beautiful green-blue fur coloured cat was observing her almost analytically. A beautiful pattern adoring in a parallel form staring from just under it's eyes, passing over it's eyelids towards a slightly higher part on top of the felines eyelids. She didn't move, as she did so the same, noticing the most distinguished feature of the feline. A beautiful gem was embedded on the felines foreheads a red glow coming from it like fire in the dark, which made the felines amber coloured eyes all the more beautiful.

"Hello there, aren't you a beautiful one?" Nefeli finally said as she kneeled in front of her cage, slowly reaching out to the feline who eagerly rubbed her head on the hand.

"Do you want to come with me?" She asked as the feline let out another melodic meow in a manner that could only be understood as affirmation.

* * *

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* * *

The beautiful feline had turned out to be a Carbuncle, which was considered an extinct race. They had the ability to hide the gem on their forehead, which made them appear as blue-green coloured cat. She only had recognised her from Book of Imaginary Beings, and even then she knew close to nothing from the species apart from the fact that she was from America.

The now appropriately name Amber was purring on Nefeli's lap as she brushed the feline's tail. _Ambar liked being spoiled._

It wasn't long until the train started to move, the train station slowly being lost from her sight as the train started to gain speed. _I would happily admit that I was exited, who wouldn't be? I was going to Hogwarts's, school of magic. I massively doubted that there was any eleven year old that would say no to learning magic._

At least she was wasn't mad any more, the past month had been incredibly tense at Malfoy manor. Lucius had decided that it was 'way past it's time' for Nefeli to have a marriage contract, and half of the options had been inhumane, with the other half being disgusting. Her father's words at the station had been 'You have until the end of the year to stop falling around, I want a decision the first week next summer'. It was only because the wouldn't be a next summer for the four of them together, and her mother holding her hand tightly that she hadn't hexed that man there and there.

Her musing was brought to a halt as a week knock sounded on the door. Looking up Nefeli immediately smiled seeing Iris on the other side.

"Hello Iris, want to seat with me?" She asked kindly as Iris nodded nervously. As a matter of fact she seemed even more terrified that she had looked the last time we met.

"Did you read any of the books?" Nefeli asked curiously. This life or the previous one shed never be a social butterfly, so books and lectures would have to do. She responded with a week nod. Shed have to find a way to break her out of her shell.

"Did you find any subjects interesting?"

"Charms and Defence..." She answered quietly as Nefeli nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, those are good ones. Unfortunately Defence is a wild card, since every year we have a different Professor. Rumour has it the position is cursed." She explained to the girl who absorbed every word like a sponge. _As I said, every eleven year old wants to learn magic._ "On the other hand Professor Flitwick is a champion duellist's and a brilliant teacher. As a matter of fact I seem to recall that he's the one that helped your mother get her mastery in charms." I commented as Iris eyes widened.

"My mother?" She asked in shock. She blinked, mentally cursing herself _._ It was obvious that only because she was a girl Petunia would have told her about her mother.

"Yeah, do you know what a mastery is?" Nefeli asked as Iris shook her head looking at the ground.

"Hey, no worries. This is why we go to school." She reassured the girl. "It's a grading system. OWL's are more or less the equivalent of GCSE's, and NEWT'S are the equivalent of A-levels. Once you finish all seven years you considered a fully educated which. So then, you either start working, or take a mastery. While not the same, the closest I can think of it in terms of similarity is a university degree." She finished explaining to the girl.

"I-I...Do you know anything about my mother?" She whispered nervously as I smiled in sympathy.

"Not much." Nefeli admitted regrettably. "I do know that she was at the top of almost all of her classes, and she was greatly admired. I can ask my mother about it if you want? I know that they were at Hogwarts for some few years before my mum graduated." Nefeli said as Iris nodded shily.

What followed was an hour of explaining each subject and it's teachers. While Iris hardly talked whatsoever, Nefeli did note that the girl did seem to become slightly less tense as she explained the school. The poor girl had probably been terrified that she wouldn't fit in. She could sympathise to that, not having fitted in her own school in her previous life. After almost an hour the door was thrown open with a loud bang as red-headed first year looked inside. Iris, the poor girl, jumped right next to Nefeli as she hid behind her. Such a skittish little thing, and she meant that the kindest way possible.

"Can I help you?" I asked as I straightened my back, slightly protectively for Iris.

"I'm looking for Iris Potter, have you seen her?" The red haired, who Nefeli would assume was Ronald, asked in a rude like manner.

"No, thought it would be polite to introduce yourself." She pointed out unimpressed by the brats action. The brat narrowed his eyes -and yes, she would call him a boy until he stopped acting like one - glaring at her as he ignored Iris, which had been her objective to start with.

"Ron Weasly." He finally said.

"Right, it's a pleasure to meet you Ron." She said as she stretched out her arm, like him or not, he couldn't be brattish enough to antagonise her if she was nice to him. "I'm Nefeli Malfoy." Obviously he could, since he immediately snarled at her.

"Malfoy? I've heard of your family." He said darkly as he glared at her. "As if I shake hands with a death eater." He practically shouted as he slammed the door closed, leaving without a second glance as she let out a sigh, turning around to look at Iris.

"You okay?" She asked in concern. Iris was shaking weekly in...fear? Now she was starting to really worry about what type of life the girl had lived if she was scared from the brat.

"Sorry." She whispered after some few seconds.

"No need to apologise, it was Weasley that was rude about it." Nefeli comforted as she looked at Amber. The feline tilted it's head before a look of understanding crossed it's face as it jumped on Nefeli's lap.

She lifted the cat gently before slowly putting her on Iris's lap, careful not to scare the girl that seemed to be seconds from a mental brake down.

"This is Amber." She said as the feline looked up at Iris, beautiful jewel sized amber eyes looked into an equally beautiful emerald pair until Iris relented, gently starting to stroke the feline as Amber purred in happiness.

"Um...what he said..." Iris said nervously as Nefeli nodded in understanding.

"My father isn't a good man Iris, he was one of Voldemort's mains supporters, and the only reason he's not in jail is because he bribed his way out." She explained as Iris blinked in surprise, not having expected her to admit it.

Before either of them could say something, the door was opened again, this time it was at least slightly more gracefully, _ **slightly.**_ Nefeli mentally groaned as her brother appeared with his two bodyguards. Iris was again hiding behind her, thought this time slightly more awkwardly since Amber was on her lap.

"Yes?" She asked Draco, politely, but with unmistakable amount of annoyance. Discreetly pointing her wand towards Iris as she casted a notice me not charm, that only Iris herself may noticed. She would have a mental breakdown if she met him now.

"I've been looking for you sister." He finally said in a superior manner. "I was wondering if you could help me look for Iris Potter, we should after all introduce ourselves together." He stated.

"No thank you, Draco. If Potter hasn't been seen yet then it's obvious she doesn't want to be disturbed. If you could please leave it would be greatly appreciated, Draco." She said dismissively as he narrowed his eyes.

"Careful with what you say, sister, I do after all get a say in your contract. Say, I don't know, Walden Macnair?" He commented offhandedly.

Nefeli's only reaction was a twitch in her finger that inevitably scratched the chair's handle.

"You should be careful yourself, Draco, all that power may just make you head bigger." Nefeli said her eyes looking at him in a lazy manner, but threatening one none the less.

"Why you-"

"Is there a problem here, Malfoy?" A female voice said with a clear snarl as Draco turned around and glared at someone.

"I already told you to get lost, mudblood, what's wrong, cant even follow simply instructions?" He snarled back in clear disgust.

"Get out Draco. Get. Out. Now!" Nefeli threatened as she let some of her own magic slip.

With a slight amount of fear, Draco left the compartment realising that he wasn't going to win this one. Nefeli let out an exhausted sigh as she looked at the person that had helped her out. A Hufflepuff seventh year, but not any she recognised from memory. She was head girl, and obviously a talented which from the way her magic had just reacted when she had let it slip.

"Thank you for helping us out." Nefeli said as she dispelled the notice me not on Iris, no need for someone to ask questions.

"Don't worry about it, the Malfoy's are a horrible lot, can't believe I actually tried being nice to that brat." She said as Nefeli lip twitched in amusement, this was going to be fun.

"Tell me about it. It's why I'm trying to get disinherited before next year." She said as the which eyes widened. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm Nefeli Malfoy." She said as an honest, if not slightly amused smile formed on her lips.

"Oh... er… Sorry about that..." She said blushing as Nefeli waved it off.

"No apologies needed, if I understood it right he already said something horrible to you, Ms...?"

"Tonks, just Tonks." She said slightly nervously as Nefeli blinked in surprise, that was an interesting timeline change.

"Oh, you're Andi's daughter, that means we cousins right?" She said cheerfully as Tonks visibly relaxed.

"Yeah, thought I'm surprised you're now that, didn't expect...well..."

"Mum told me about Aunt Andi whenever Lucius or Draco aren't around." She explained as Tonks looked at her curiously before nodding.

"Well, it's good to know I have some good family that isn't my parents. I need to finish my patrolling so Ill be off now, well be at Hogwarts in slightly over an hour so you should probably get changed." She said as she closed the door, the first one to do so gently as well.

"You hanging in there Iris?" Nefeli asked as the girl nodded slowly.

"That spell you used." She asked quietly as I nodded.

"Notice me not charms, I didn't think you'd like to meet Draco." She explained as Iris nodded murmuring a week thank you.

Things had gone surprisingly fast out of the window. _Eh, at least I got to meet Tonks..._ She mentally commented to herself as she started continuing her mostly one sided conversation with Iris.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: The Harry Potter books, world and characters belong to JKR. I take no credit for any repeated quote or event from the original source.**

* * *

 **Bad Faith**

 **Chapter 4**

* * *

 _At what point I had wanted to be an architect. Wouldn't that had changed things massively?_

 _That being said, my minor obsession with architecture still remained. Hogwarts was beautiful. It was nothing like the castle I had imagined, or for that matter, I don't think it was like any castle I had ever seen. The only word that came anywhere near of doing it justice was that it emitted an actual sense of ancient magic from it the likes I'd never felt before._

 _An extra part of having been using wandless magic since day one, I was incredibly sensitive to magic. That meant allot more than what it sounded, it was like having a third eye that could only see magic, but at a 360 degree. The amount of awareness I had from it hadn't destroyed my brain due to the simple fact that I had occlumency. It instead redirected those senses to minimum._

 _Okay, that still wasn't a good explanation so bare with me. It was like...like having a slow computer as well as my brain. The computer would go over the information, only sending my brain the important information, instead of every major event, and would only go into overload with situations such as entering the Hogwarts words, that completely overwhelmed the 'limit' safety._

 _I am so glad I took Biology for A level, without it I wouldn't have a clue what I was doing. And yes, the brain was capable of doing such feats. The myth that the brain could only use 10% of it's capacity was a misunderstood myth, but anyway, back to magic._

"This are all the first year's Professor McGonagall" Hagrid informed the stoic women.

"Thank you, Hagrid, I will take it from here." She thanked before turning towards the first years. "Welcome to Hogwarts. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." She finished the sentence as her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ronald's smudged nose.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

It took less than a second for the first years to start discussion how they would be shorted, every theory being more weird than the last as Iris hid more and more behind Nefeli. Felling sorry for the girl, she reached out and held her hand slowly, making a mental note of her scared flinch before she looked up at her.

"Don't worry, hardly anyone even opened they books. It simply is a test of personality, and it's impossible to not get shorted." She explained as the girl visibly relaxed, nodding in a thanking manner. _Not that I'm sure how I knew that..._

The hall was suddenly filled with gasp's as ghosts passed through the walls as if they never existed. Nefeli ignored the conversation, much more fascinated in the fact that she was seeing a ghost for the first time. Curious enough, she couldn't sense any magic coming from them, It was... empty, and in a castle overflowing with ancient magic that shouldn't be possible. It was like the very opposite of magic. Perhaps magic worked the same way particles and antiparticles worked? But that would mean that magic was related to life and death. She felt a shiver travel through her spine, suddenly realising that the three deathly hallows may have been massively underpaid from how powerful they where in reality.

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

The sorting worked in much the same way that the books had, with the only possible exception being on how much Draco's ability to swagger was underplayed. As her name was called she slightly tightened her grip on Iris hand before letting go as she whished the terrified girl some luck, purposefully walking up towards the stool in a humble manner and grace. Suddenly her mother's lessons on how a lady should behave didn't seem as bad.

 **" _Finally, something interesting to short through!_ "** An echo sounded through her head as her lip twitched.

 _"While not in cannon, I am assuming that this will remain confidential?"_ She mentally asked as the hat let out an amused - mental? - laugh.

 _ **"A correct assumption Miss Black."**_ The hat responded as she nodded approvingly.

 _"Good, now before the shorting I need to know. What is your name? I really need to know."_ She asked slightly desperately as the hat let out a chuckle.

 _ **"Unfortunately I was never named, oh? How curious, there are many interesting names from your world."**_ He said as I felt something moving through my mind. _ **"Tah? Oh, inverse of hat, I like it! Tah it is!"** _The hat commented as she snorted in amusement.

 _"Then I christen you as Tah"_ Nefeli said trying not to laugh.

 _ **"Now where to put you? While not lacking, I think Gryffindor is out of the question."**_ The hat said as Nefeli nodded, she tried to avoid risk's, which was ironic seeing how her fortune had been based on risks, even if she had made sure that she never was put in danger. **_"Hufflepuff is a possibility, however I can tell that you have little interest in being targeted, which leaves us with Slytherin and Ravenclaw._**

 _"You know in which house I won't go on a murdering parade, right?"_ Nefeli said as Tah let out a sigh.

 _ **"And there is so much talent as well..."**_ The hat commented regrettably. _ **"RAVENCLAW!"**_ The hat shouted as a polite applause filled the room, many eyes slightly widened that she didn't go to the pit of snakes.

Nefeli walked towards the 'wise' table, noting how many people seemed weary of her as she sat down as the sorting continued.

"Potter, Iris!"

Immediately whispers broke out through the hall as everyone looked in the small crowed of remaining first years, desperate to get a glance at they 'heroine'. All the while Iris looked absolutely terrified as she walked towards the stool, sitting down as her eyes momentarily met that of Nefeli's who gave her a reassuring nod.

 **"RAVENCLAW!"** The hat said after some few quite seconds as Nefeli blinked in surprise, but immediately started clapping none the less. She had apparently greatly changed the timeline already, most likely taking the brat's place as to who spoke about Hogwarts in the train.

Iris removed the hat as she quickly moved towards Nefeli. Not receiving any applauses until she had almost reached the girl. _Was it really that much of a surprise that she didn't go to the house that the parents she never met did?_

 _"Welcome to the house of the wise, Iris." She whispered encouragingly as she flashed her a smile. Iris seemed to hesitate momentarily before she weekly smiled back at the girl._

Ignoring the remaining students, Nefeli started looking trough the teachers table. Her eyes momentarily coming at a stop on Quirrell, Snape and Dumbledore. Unsurprisingly, Quirrell was observing Iris with a dangerous glim in his eyes. That was something to be careful about, pathetic or not, the man still had Voldemort with him, which made him a threat that she would have to tread carefully around. Surprisingly, Snape was observing both Iris and Nefeli with a slightly raised eyebrow, most likely questioning how a Potter had befriended a Malfoy. With any luck he would treat her better than what he had in the books.

The one that slightly broke her heart was the way Dumbledore had looked at Iris. Oh, there was the known twinkle in his eyes, but behind them she could she a careful analytical observation of a chess master. There goes one of my favourite childhood hero's... Nefeli mourned in a sadden, mental tone. While that didn't mean that he was a bad person, Nefeli wasn't about to let Iris be manipulated into suicide.

She was brought out of her thought as the man in question stood up. His analytical stare disappearing as he beamed at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! He sat back down as everybody clapped and cheered brightly.

Nefeli kept a discreet eye on Iris, who seemed almost scared to touch the food. She mentally cursed the Dursleys. Sighing, she started reaching out for the different foods as she put them on both of their plates. Iris looked at her in surprised, but quickly started eating the food on her plate. It took all of Nefeli's occlumency not to frown at her reaction. That was the picture definition of conditioned behaviour, which meant shed been forced to sit at the table watching the Dursleys eat, not receiving none themselves. She believed in second chances, but she was dam well close to calling dooby to help her murder. Realising that the table had gone silent, Nefeli looked up as every stared at her.

"Yes?" She asked curiously as they moved nervously.

"We where introducing ourselves." A girl said nervously. Nefeli guessed that she was Padma Patil from her Indian heritage.

"Oh, my apologies. I'm Nefeli, I prefer just being addressed by my first name. I'm guessing you all had the displeasure of either meeting or hearing of the Malfoys. I'll only say this once, I completely disagree with them, so try not to start insulting me for something I have nothing to do with." She said in a slight warning manner. "As for likes, I think it's obvious that I enjoy reading. I also enjoy spell crafting and duelling." She finished as many stared at her in surprise.

Not that she could really blame them, an unbiased Malfoy was as unlikely as Snape dressing in pink willingly.

"Ahem, just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you." Dumbledore announced as he stood up. "First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well. I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

So he really had gone through with it. Nefli let out a grown as she looked at Iris, who looked terrified on the thought of a painful death.

"H-He's not serious, is he?" She whispered with a shaky voice.

"We haven't got any lessons on the third floor. That being said we'll avoid it completely. Any efficient teacher would have put defences on the corridor either way." She pointed out reassuringly, even if she wasn't that sure herself.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore.

Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune, and off we go!"

She'd cringed when she read it, and she felt like hitting the table with her head now that she was hearing it. In both worlds she had learned music, granted, in this one it was almost a requirement for a pureblood to learn it. Unfortunately, her poor ears where going to kill her if it dint end soon.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

Nefeli followed the two prefects as they went through the halls, Iris closely behind. The poor thing looked greatly uncomfortable with all the searing, to which Nefeli did her best to cover as they walked at the front on one side. Eventually they reached the common room, a wide, circular room with arched windows.

Nefeli's first thought of the room was that she would have probably gotten along with Rowena Ravenclaw. The room is furnished with tables, chairs, and bookcase. Many, many bookcases. The place itself held a midnight magical air about it, perhaps because of the glass sphered selling on top of it, but the star's light entering into the room in a white, purple and blue coloured patterned that dimly illuminated the room. She could happily live the rest of her life here.

They where directed through one door next to Rowena's statue, through a spiral staircase with beautiful arched window's covered with plants and flowers. Surprisingly, unlike in the Gryffindor books, one was allowed to either have they own room or share with some few others. Nefeli made a guess that it had something to do with they own house policy of need to study rather than a difference in the book.

Iris looked at her nervously, not sure weather Nefeli would want to share with her. Smiling at the timid girl, Nefeli grabbed her hand softly and pulled her into one of the bedrooms. She would need to start braking Iris out of her shell, with the hell she was being targeted with.

Unsurprisingly, but not unwelcomed, the bedroom had two separate bookshelf next to the two beds. They trunks and pets already in the room, Amber calmly sleeping on her bed.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: The Harry Potter books, world and characters belong to JKR. I take no credit for any repeated quote or event from the original source.**

* * *

 **Bad Faith**

 **Chapter 5**

* * *

Nefeli was feeling incredibly sorry for Iris.

They had just finished the first day of school and the girl was already hiding under her bead cover's. Not that she could blame her. Even she had felt unease when every single person and portrait had started at her as they started to whisper with each other. Amber, the amazing feline that she was, purred from inside the blankets as Iris -most likely- stroked her fur.

"Iris, you do know you can't hide there forever, don't you?" Nefeli called out, receiving no response from the girl.

"We have potions tomorrow, you don't want to get on Snape's bad side right?" She continued asking as some moving sound came from the bed.

Surprisingly, Snape had been civil towards Iris, not having asked her any questions and instead, having immediately gone towards 'teaching'. That alone didn't change the fact that Iris was still terrified of him.

For the most part, Nefeli had been helping Iris adjust at Hogwarts, helping her out in class whenever she needed it. In all her planning and studying, she hadn't thought of the possibility of being bored in class. _That's how bad things had gotten, I whet from either helping Iris to self studying by myself._

Letting out a sigh, she when back to reading the letter Iruk had sent her this morning. It would be her first step for her economical empire In the magical world, so she was being incredibly careful as to how she handled it.

She would be constructing from scratch a complete shopping district. Shed already arranged the basic diagram, and was now working out the price that it would cost to even build the whole thing. Since, unbeknown to most, she was Lady Black, the highest authority - and pretty much the only authority - of the family, she could do anything she wanted with her land. Of course, Diagon ally would be a huge amount of competition, but it had been the only district - not including Knockturn ally - for all of Britain history, a little bit of competition would do wonders for the economy. _Or mine, but meh._

She was brought out of her thoughts by a gentle tug on her sleeve. She turned around to see Iris, who was looking incredibly awkwardly at her.

"C-Could you read through?" She whispered nervously as she showing Nefeli her potion essay.

Leaving the folder on her desk she started reading through the potion essay, pointing out bits and pieces that she could use to improve her work. While never having taught, her teacher had been at the level that it was good enough that she could simply imitate him to teach Iris. But the end of the year shed be finishing second year material.

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Day's quickly became weeks as time passed. She couldn't help but want to jump in excitement whenever she started a new subject, some being exactly like the books, while some others being massively underrated, particular Herbology and Astronomy. Defence was the joke they had built it to be, but Nefeli was still careful whenever she was close to Quirrell.

The only other problem was Iris herself. The girl was quickly driving Nefeli crazy. The girl was shy when she was alone with her, but she did speak. The problem was that she froze and hid behind her whenever someone tried speaking to her, which granted, may have been half the problem. Weasley's attempt had been less of a 'I wondered if we could be friends?' and more of 'You will be friends with me', which added to the fact he had shouted at her the first time they met hadn't left her with a positive opinion. Draco had... well, he'd been himself, no need to specify.

Thought there where some few people that she wasn't completely terrified, which was progress in her books, even if she had yet to speak to anyone that wasn't Nefeli.

"Something wrong, Iris?" She asked curiously as the girl read the letter.

"No. Hagrid invited me for tee." She said softly as she looked up.

"Oh? Mind if I accompany you?" Nefeli asked, realising that it was probably what Iris wanted. If Iris nod was any clue, she was right.

Surprisingly, it was Iris who lead her towards Hagrid's house. A surprisingly comfy looking wooden house with a slight spherical style, slightly distanced from the forbidden forest with a crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.

Holly reached out, having to starch on her tip toes as she knocked on the door. Within a blink she disappeared behind Nefeli as several barks and scrabbling noises came from within the hut.

A voice that she guessed was Hagrid's was telling Fang of from within before he opened the door.

"Hang on. Back, Fang." He said as he let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound. Any progress that had been made on Iris's independence as they walked downed had been lost.

"Make yourselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Nefeli and started licking her face. Lucky for him, she had always loved animals, so she could let that one slip.

"This is Nefeli." Iris said quietly to Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate. The man tenses slightly but said nothing, introducing himself to the girl kindly. At least he didn't immediately assume she was a death eater, which was much more than most did.

The cakes where an experience from childhood. They where quite literally rock cakes, and she would happily admit that she enjoyed eating them even if they had hurt a little bit.

Unsurprisingly, the subject of the conversation soon went to academics. Say what you would about the man but he knew what he was talking about when it came to magical creatures. Any weariness he had having disappeared as they talked of the many magical creatures he had met over his years as Gatekeeper.

"There's Peryton's in the forbidden forest?" Nefeli asked in amazement as Hagrid nodded.

"Yeah, surprised me a great deal when I found them as well." He explained cheerfully as Iris listened to they conversation as she nibbled on the rock cake.

The books didn't do this world justice. There hadn't been any magical creature books in the Malfoy library, so the few books she had gotten her hands on where OWL and NEWT one's that only went through the common ones. In other words? Most of the ones she was interested in.

By the time they left Iris was half asleep, slightly falling before waking up and straightening herself before the same thing happened again. That being said Nefeli couldn't help but feel pride at the girl, who had hardly been the terrified girl she usually was at school.

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"Ms Malfoy, may I have a word in private?" Professor Snape asked as the class swiftly packed they books. Iris was the only one that was unsure weather she should leave or stay.

"Would you mind waiting outside, Iris?" Nefeli asked the girl who nodded nervously as she left the classroom, closing the door quietly.

"She wasn't what I expected." The professor finally stated, in a tone barely above a whisper as Nefeli nodded in understanding.

"She never really met her parent's, and the fact that she hasn't said a word about her life before school speaks for itself." She commented.

Professor Snape looked at her analytically, much the same way as he usually did whenever they spoke. Not that it surprised her, she wasn't exactly a normal eleven year old.

"I have yet to figure out how you do it." He commented thoughtfully before shaking his head lightly. "None the less, that wasn't why I asked you to stay." He explained as he stood.

"Very few student's at this school show any talent in the arts of potion making. Even fewer manage to impress me. You managed to achieve both at the mere age of three." He said as he looked at the potion cabinets, in a manner as if he where talking to himself rather than towards her. She couldn't help but think that the books simply did not do him justice. His talent in dramatics where almost admirable.

"Every two or three years, I find a student that is worthy of my time. The work you have to do is clearly beneath your talent, as such, I am willing to spare you my own time to give you more advance work. If you prove capable of coping with it, I wouldn't be surprise that you become a Potion Mistress by the start of your seventh year." He said as he sat back down, looking at her intensively.

Nefeli blinked in surprise, not having expected Professor Snape out of all the teachers to allow her to start working on more advanced work. Then again, it was probably either Dumbledore or her own surname which could be a reason behind that problem.

"I have a indirectly related question, and a completely unrelated question that I was hoping you could answer before I give you my decision." She finally commented as she sat down on one of the desks. A brief flash of surprise flashed through the mans eyes, but quickly disappeared as he nodded for her to continue.

"I'll ask the unrelated one first. What side are you on? Or more precisely, what is your overall objective?" She asked, leaning forward as the man raised his eyebrow at the question.

"I don't understand what you mean with that question." He said.

"The blood war, Dumbledore, Voldemort and Iris. What is you position in it? That's what I want to know." She explained.

"Why don't you enlighten me with your own theory?" He said after a moment of thoughtfulness.

"I already know the basic outline of you Hogwarts years, so Ill skip directly after your graduation." She stated. "You are a former Death Eater, if my guess is correct, highly likely the only one that didn't do the marking ritual but was a member of his inner circle." She continued as the Professor betrayed no emotion. She would have to be careful what she said after that. It had to come from a logical conclusion, rather than prior knowledge.

"October 31st, 1981." She said before leaving a thoughtful gap as she considered her wording. "I find it highly unlikely that any Dark Lord would be defeated by a one year old, no matter how powerful that one year old has become." She finally commented.

And it was true, Iris was incredibly powerful, the fact that she could keep up with Nefeli was proof to that.

The reason a child under the age of eleven wasn't given a wand was because they magic was unstable, growing at a rapid rate much like they body did. A child's growth depends at a much greater scale on nutrients, exercise, sleep and what not at a much greater scale than that of an adult. The same could be said about magic, using it under the age of eleven made it grow slightly more than what it would have without. Riddle, for example, was incredibly powerful since he used wandless magic practically the whole time. She herself was probably more powerful than what Riddle had been at eleven because she had used magic as an extension of her own body since the day she had been born. Worryingly enough, Iris had used magic subconsciously since her parents death, and if Nefeli was correct, it was so powerful because of the shear number of times she had used it for her body to survive, thought she hoped that last part was wrong.

"You are asking me weather I am Dumbledore spy or the Dark Lords?" The potion master finally asked.

"No." She stated simply as a small smile formed on her lips. "I know you don't support either, and I can pretty much guess when and why you left the Death Eaters." She said as the Professor inhaled sharply.

"I guess I'll return to that question and ask you my second one. What is your opinion on Iris?" She asked as the Potion master eyed her strangely. Not that she blamed him. If she wanted to she could have him killed with that knowledge.

"As I said, she was not what I expected." He commented thoughtfully, sighing when Nefeli didn't say anything. "She's quiet, terrified of everything, merlin's sake, she's more terrified of her own shadow than Longbottom is of his." He finally admitted as Nefeli nodded in agreement.

"And her potion skills?" She asked as the potion master raised his eyebrow.

"Adequate." He finally admitted, which coming from the man meant that there was a lot of potential.

"And as someone that has only know about the magical world for less than three moths?" She asked as he now blinked in surprise.

"Mildly impressive, but not enough for me to teach her a one on one lesson." He said, realising where she was going with the conversation.

"And if I not only tutored her, but let her listen to my lessons at the back of the class?" She asked as the man now looked at her in complete surprise.

He seemed to consider the proposition carefully. The only side she had seen of him through the first five books was a bully with an old grudge. However the Snape she had grown to know was a Slytherin through and through, considering every option rather than the 'book' Snape that acted like a Gryffindor… Her mother was rubbing of her.

"I would allow it. However I now have my own question. Why?"

Her lips twitched in amusement. He had just bitten the bate, and now it was up to her to word It in a way that would bring him to her side, or at least start to. Grudge or not against James Potter, Severus Snape would be one of the keys to protecting Iris.

"Which brings me back to the previous part. Voldemort." She said as he indicated for her to continue. "Simply put?" She asked rhetorically as she spreader her arms in a questioning gesture. "I think that it's ludicrous to say that he's dead. I've seen that mark once, and while not something that I'm proficient with, I do know that it involves soul magic. My guess is that two of the members of the golden generation sacrificed themselves, using a ritual to protect they child, which severally weekend him." As he raised an eyebrow she let out a sigh. "The Potter's a an ancient and noble house, I wouldn't be surprise if they had a long list of old magic in they library. And contrarily to what Lucius seems to believe, I know that Iris's mother was the best the generation had to offer.

The room was filled with silence as the man thought on what Nefeli had just told him before he let out an amused snort.

"How did you not end up in my house?" He asked as Nefeli smiled in amusement.

"I was smart enough to know that going into the house of snakes would have not only labelled me as dark, but also made it much easier to be manipulated. As it is, I'm a snake in a nest covered with feathers." She said as his lip twitched.

"Would you be able to tutor her?" He asked as she nodded immediately.

"I'm already am. She's about a moth or so ahead from the rest of her year."

"How far ahead are you anyway?" He asked with actual curiosity.

"On average? I could take all my OWL'S and pass with full marks. I would probably pass Charms, Defence, Potions, Arimathy…" She stopped for a second as a thoughtful look crossed her features. "And... probably Ancient Ruins with a low Outstanding to a high Exceed expectations." She said proudly as the mans eyes actually widened.

"And you don't find your lessons boring?" He asked curiously.

"Actually, they are the perfect time to plot and develop my Occlumency skills." She said with a smirk.

And to her shock, he actually laughed. _And it wasn't creepy?!_

"Very well, tell Ms Potter that I will expect the utmost effort from her. The lessons will be each Saturday, from five to nine." He said in a still very amused tone as she nodded.

"Thank you, Professor."

"Unnecessary, I am doing what any self respecting Slytherin would. I will arrange for Ms Clearwater to bring a list of ingredients and books for you. You a dismissed."

Nodding, she left the classroom, where a nervous Iris was hiding next to a pillar. Relief washing over her face when she saw her walking out of the classroom.

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"You what?" Iris squeaked, possibly in the loudest tone Nefeli had ever heard her used. Even then it was quiet a quite tone.

"I was offered to work ahead, and I got you into it." She explained vaguely as she read through a small booklet on her financing before righting down some few basic calculations.

"B-But I don't want to have special treatment!" She whispered worryingly as Nefeli put her quill down, letting out a sigh as she indicated for Iris to sit down.

"Listen Iris, this isn't special treatment. Professor Snape would had shot it down immediately had I not said I would tutor you, and even then he only agreed to do so because well be doing so together." She explained as Iris looked tempted at the offer. "Also, the are few people that get a mastery, and those that do almost always a chosen above those that don't. I know you hate being in the middle of the attention Iris, but think where you'll be in ten years. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, not to mention I know that you do genuinely enjoy Potions." She pointed out as Iris nodded slowly.

"I suppose your right." She admitted as Nefeli smiled brightly.

 _Step one, complete._


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: The Harry Potter books, world and characters belong to JKR. I take no credit for any repeated quote or event from the original source.**

* * *

 **Bad Faith**

 **Chapter 6**

* * *

"TROLL! TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS!" The man shouted as he stopped in the centre of the hall. "Thought you ought to know."

He then sank to the floor in a dead faint. The immediate uproar followed until Professor Dumbledore pulled out his own wand, a huge echo sound coming from his wand as the hall immediate silenced.

It couldn't be just her that found the how show fake, could it? She let out a sigh, relived that her presence had at least changed the timeline enough that the bathroom incident wasn't repeated. Since she had been pared with Iris, that had left Dean being paired with Ronald, which hadn't led to the whole insulting after class. Shed even made sure that Hermione was in the great hall when they arrived. Looking up to the great hall... she found that Hermione wasn't there... wait… What?

She quickly looked through the first year section of the Gryffindor table, before looking through the whole table. She wasn't there? But how? She saw her in here less than half an hour ago. She raised her Occlumency shields, making sure not to panic as she checked the now leaving Gryffindor students.

"Nefeli?" Iris asked shakenly.

The poor girl was terrified. Hell, even she was scared, the books may have played it off as an easy feat, but you don't just knock a troll out and say, 'Hey, that was fun spell practicing!'. She had to be quick about this. Looking up at the table, she spotted the teacher that she was looking for. Holding Iris's hand to reassure her, she rushed with the small girl towards Professor Flitwick, who had just reached out for the door.

"Professor Flitwick!" She practically shouted as the diminutive teacher turned around.

"Ms Malfoy? You should be leaving with the rest of you house!" His cheerful persona having disappeared, replaced by a much more serious and scared man.

"I know. I cant see Granger anywhere!" She said in a slightly calmer voice as his eyes widened before he took out his wand and made a Patronus charm.

"Albus, Ms Granger location. NOW!" The professor shouted the last part as the Patronus disappeared out of the hall.

Less than ten seconds past as a silver phoenix appeared. She immediately recognised the headmasters voice through it.

"Girls Bathroom, second floor." It said as the professor sweared. Not that she knew the word, but she heard it enough times from Iruk to know the intention.

"You two follow me." He said as they did so, following him towards the second floor.

As they reached the second floor, Nefeli's stomach fall as she came across a foul smell that she immediately linked towards the troll.

In front of them, the mounting troll was raising it's club, as a small figure in comparison stood frozen before letting out a scream.

" _Movere Praesidium!_ " The diminutive professor shouted as the club came falling down.

Mere centimetres before hitting Hermione, it collided with an invisible force that momentarily became a mystical like blue fog as the troll stepped backwards from the recoil. It slowly and stupidly turned around as it's dozy eyes met the three figures.

"I do apologise about that, I'm afraid that I was not thinking." Professor Flitwick admitted nervously as it started walking towards them, the professor casting all manner of spells silently, only for them to show no effect on the troll.

"Professor? Can you restrain it's movements for some few seconds?" Nefeli asked, glad that her first dozen of plans had been to confront the troll.

"Twenty seconds at most." He stated as he continued throwing spell after spell at the troll. The problem? Professor Flitwick was a duelling master, not a beast slayer.

"Do it, when I tell you to!" She said in a manner not that different from an order. And he did so without question, having reached the point of being absolutely terrified for his student's.

"Hermione! When I shout 'now' run towards us!" Nefeli shouted as all the girl could do is turn at her in shock.

"NOW!" She ordered as the professor immobilised the troll.

She momentarily dived into her occlumency, pulling a specific old memory out before her eyes opened.

Inheling deeply, she cast spell after spell, each one different from it's counterpart as they landed at the Trolls feet.

 _"Saxi Calcis Pulveris" 65%_

 _"Silica Pulvis" 20%_

 _"Alumen Pulvis" 7%_

 _"Magnes" 3%_

 _"Intentoque Ferrum Cadmiae" 2%_

 _"Calcium Sulfate Intentoque" 0.3%_

 _"Trioxide Sulphuris Umor Concentration" 2%_

 _"Princeps Alkaline" 0.5%_

 _"Movere Praesidium" 0.2%_

"Aer Calidus Maxima!" She finished casting, continuing the last charm as the huge concentrated puddle surrounded the troll, reaching it to almost it's waist.

Another fourteen seconds past until Professor Flitwick collapsed, panting for air.

Finishing her spell, she concentrated all her magic into one more. _"Nec os illius confringetis!"_

The troll roared in victory, as it moved through the liquid. Or at least tried.

It made a movement to the left, but it remained inside. It did the same to the right, but it remained inside.

The formerly dark grey liquid was now completely solid. He tried hitting it with the blub, but it instead made a cracking sound as the impact forced the troll to let it go, the club falling next to the troll, but unreachable for it's now stuck form.

"It worked..." Nefeli whispered as she collapsed, her legs giving out from the combined fear and exhaustion she had been through. Iris immediately grabbed her, helping her lean on the wall as they both sat down.

Nefeli offered the girl a grateful smile before her eyes darted towards the troll. The magic had been basic level, something which most other first years would have been able to cast if they put in the effort of memorizing the spells and rations. Shed invented how to make cement out of magic as a plan B, a contingency plan if Lucius did something that would have caused her to out of the house before she managed to claim her lordship, and such been placed in a position where she was unable to buy a house for herself.

Filius started looking for any possible wounds over Hermione. She hadn't really paid attention on her, having been too occupied with the spell casting, but none the less was glad to see that the girl was alright.

"What was that?" Hermione asked, although it came close to a sob. Not that any of the other three where in a much better state.

"Cement." She answered smiling tiredly as the other two girls stared at her wide eye.

"Excuse me?" The Professor asked not knowing what they where talking about.

"Muggle invention. They use it to build houses." She explained as she slowly stood up, placing a silencing charm on the troll for that they wouldn't hear it's roars.

"You know what cement is?" Hermione asked unbelievingly.

"Granger, you have quite literally never talked to me, only because Draco is completely ignorant, single cell made brain sized, narcissistic spoilt brat doesn't mean I am." She said in a slightly annoyed manner. Her glare soften when Hermione blushed in embarrassment. "Thought Ill let you off since I probably am the only pureblood that does know anything from the muggle world." She said in a more kindly tone. It worked, since the girl immediately stopped tensing up, moving to a much more relaxed posture.

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the four of them look up. Not ten seconds later Professor McGonagall appeared, alongside Professor Babbling and Aurora Sinistra, all three stopping in horror to stare at the mo0untin troll, half way inside what seemed like an incredibly durable stone.

"Is that the...? What did...? Are you four okay?" Professors McGonagall finally managed to ask, staring wearily at the Troll, before looking at her colleague and her three students, only to stare back at the troll.

"I think Ms Malfoy may be exhausted, I dare say the three of us are, but we are alive non the less." Professor Flitwick commented tiredly. Nefeli, however, noted that there had been a small gleam of amusement from Professors McGonagall reaction.

"Ms Malfoy...?" She asked before her eyes widened. "Filius! Surely you not telling me that a first year did... this?" She asked as she motioned towards the troll in shook.

"Ms. Malfoy? Perhaps you should explain what you did? I dare say I am not aware what any of those spells where." Professor Flitwick asked.

And so she did, briefly explaining the spell she cast and what they meant as she, ironically enough, told the professors what spells to use to not to interfere with her own.

"Advance spell crafting! Professor Septima is going to love this. Tell me you taking Ancient Ruins! Please tell me you are!" Professor Babbling practically begged as Professor McGonagall sent her a withering look for her unprofessional behaviour.

She didn't realise that the Ancient Ruins professor would be so... approachable. The teachers featured in the books had always been stiff or difficult to approach, the easiest being Professor Flitwick. _Then again, the books where pretty much about disobeying authority figures..._ She mentally considered.

"None the less." She interrupted as Professor Septima punched the air as Nefeli nodded in amusement. "I would like to personally thank you for saving one of my house members, I don't even want to think what would have happened if..." She trailed of before shivering at the terrifying thought. "None the less, one hounded points for Ravenclaw, and only because it is the best I can do to thank you." She said as Nefeli nodded in understanding.

The four teachers started putting up charms and other spells in the surrounding area for that no student would approach the troll as Nefeli looked at Hermione, before turning to look at Iris. Both of which where trembling.

"Iris, Hermione, are you two okay?" Nefeli asked worryingly, felling guilty from bringing one, and letting the other one be here out of ignorance.

"I-I'm fine, thank you Nefeli," she said in a quiet and shaken voice as Nefeli sighed, pulling the two girls in a tight hug.

She had found the quote Rowling had used about trolls being a bonding experience to be childish, if not straight out stupid. But right now? She agreed wholeheartedly.

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What she would do to have her phone back... Probably more than she was comfortable with, but none the less. Granted, she had invested into the company, but her playlist was gone, replaced by the 90s music that drove her insane. She had the Beetles and Queen, but still! Doing homework without anything to listen to was much more of a chore than what it had been back when she had revised in her previous life.

Suppressing a sigh, she looked out of the library's window at the stormy sky as she wondered what she could do until Iris's and her first potion lesson with Professor Snape. She could probably leave now and get there early, but it wouldn't sit well with her to leave Hermione alone like that.

Iris was actually capable of not hiding behind of Nefeli when speaking to Hermione... more or less... okay, maybe not speaking, since with speaking she meant Hermione talking while Iris gave a week nod, but...progress? Speaking about the non existent golden trio, Hermione was... more at ease with them from what Nefeli remembered of the books. Perhaps it was because they where only girls... mostly at least, but she had the feeling it had to do with the lack of a certain red head. That, and they all greatly valued knowledge. She blinked at the though before she mentally smiled at her idea.

"Hermione?" She asked the girl, who looked up from her book. "Both myself and Iris have potion lessons know with Professor Snape, would you mind joining us?"

Nefeli found both girls reaction priceless.

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"Explain." The cold voice stated as both girls flinched.

However, contrary to what he had hoped, her lips simply twitched in... was that amusement?

"I thought you wouldn't mind a non-dunderhead to join us, don't worry, shell be the last one." Nefeli said as she smiled towards him. He could practically hear a 'for now' after that sentence.

If he had any doubts before, they had been completely destroyed. It seemed that the girl in front of him was a complete copy of his deceased best friend. He nodded in reassignment as he told them to take a seat around the front table. After all, he remembered Lily's temper all to well to dare cross it. That, and he was interested in teaching Ms Granger. The only reason he hadn't was due to how that would affect his position as a spy. The brat knew that, which is why she had brought her here instead. Who would say no to a Malfoy after all.

* * *

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* * *

Even in her previous life, there had always been something about Snow that Nefeli had adored. Unfortunately, in her new lifetime, Christmas was... a more social related event that had served to lock herself in the library. So of course, she ignored the high quality made letter telling her to return home for Christmas, after all, who would when you had a almost empty magical Christmas castle to explore?

At least that meant she wouldn't be seeing her 'brother' for the next month. Unfortunately, Draco hard taken it personally that Iris didn't like him, deciding to take the place as her 'rival/bully'. Which usually ended up with Nefeli verbally beating him up, yes, that was a thing, followed by Iris being more introverted than she was for the rest of the day.

At least this time Iris wasn't a Quidditch player. While flying was something she seemed to enjoy, Professors McGonagall should have never added Harry to the team. It had been the first thing that had made people believe the boy who lived got special treatment. An added bonus was that there was no mention of Nicholas Flamel after the match either.

With that particular exception, the 'girl who lived' was slowly placed at the back of everyone's head, which was something Iris had been incredibly grateful for.

"Huh?" Iris let out in confusion as Nefeli blinked in surprise, having been lost in thought as she opened her presents.

The cloak of invisibility was nothing which she had imagined, for that matter, it was like nothing she could imagine. It was... mystic. That was the best that could come into mind. Strange, how this was supposed to represent death.

"W-what is this?" She asked in confusion as Nefeli touched the cloak.

"I think it may be an invisibility cloak." Nefeli stated as Iris's eyes widened.

"What?" She let out in an adorable squeak.

"Do you mind if I check?" She asked as she pulled her wand from her sleeve.

Iris nodded as Nefeli started by using a detection charm on it. When nothing came up she started casting more complex and upper level spells. Thank Morgana she had started her Defence Against the Dark arts mastery, since the advanced spell detected a tracking charm. She really didn't need to ask who could have placed it, but none the less she would humour the time line.

"Did it have a letter?" Nefeli asked curiously as Iris nodded.

"It wasn't signed. All it said was that it belonged to my father." She explained, finishing the last sentence in a whisper.

"Dumbledore."

"What?" She asked in confusions.

"The writing, definitely Dumbledore's. The question is why he kept it for a decade, for that matter, why he had a tracing charm on it." Nefeli explained as she reached out for one of the small burnt pieces of wood next to the fireplace.

"Tracing charm?" She asked in alarm as Nefeli nodded.

"We've already started Occlumency, but be careful around him." She said gravely as Iris nodded in understating. "Put this in you trunk." She said as she passed the burnt piece of wood. "I moved the tracing charm on it. It'll make him believe that you simply think its a normal cloak.

Unlike Harry, Iris had taken to Occlumency quite easily. It made her wonder if it was due to the different personality or because the person that her taught her was someone she trusted.

"Now that that's over, let's go down for breakfast." Nefeli said cheerfully.

 _And then, I'll look for a certain hidden mirror with a certain red stone._


End file.
